


The Oldest Friends Know Everything About You

by afteriwake



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2012-10-15
Packaged: 2017-11-16 08:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/537537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only your oldest friends can read you like a book in a darkened room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Oldest Friends Know Everything About You

**Author's Note:**

> A fic for **azardarkstar** , who wanted a Kyoraku & Ukitake friendship fic that wasn't set in their academy days. I tried for awesome bromance, but I don't think I quite got it. Still, I'm pleased with it. Also, I used first names throughout because I thought I'd try something different, and it occurs to me that these two would use them when thinking of each other and speaking to each other.

He had never been the melancholy sort. Neither of them had, really. When one of them was feeling a bit down the other would lift him up. That was just what was done. There was no need for it to be stated, it just _was_. So when his old friend Jushiro came by the office on the way to the fourth division, he tried his best to not look upset.

It didn't work. The trouble with having old dear friends was that they could read you like an open book in a room with no light. Jushiro knew within moments that all was not well in his life. He sent a hell butterfly to Retsu, letting her know he would be in tomorrow to collect his medicine. That made him smile a little bit. Jushiro would catch hell for it, but Shunsui figured once he explained it was for his sake she would understand. She, too, could read them very easily.

She may be close to them, but she was not Jushiro. They had been through thick and thin. She had been through some of it with them, yes, back in her more reckless and carefree days in the academy. What a sight she had been back then, he mused. They had both fallen for her within days of meeting her. Mere hours in Jushiro's case, more likely. And while neither of them had received her heart, they had received her friendship, and that was invaluable.

In fact, that was one thing that was troubling, the scenario of him carrying Jushiro to her as she healed the Vizard he had recognized as lieutenant of the Twelfth, under Urahara. She had just finished, and was reassuring her friends of her health when she caught sight of Jushiro in his arms. He had never seen her lose composure like that. She was frantic to heal him. She worked on him as though her own life depended on it. And in that instant, things had changed. The dynamic between them wasn't the same anymore.

But he was being pulled out of his thoughts by an insistent Jushiro, and he followed his friend along the hallways of Seirieiti until they were at the gate, and then out into the Rukongai they went. It took a moment before he realized where they were going, and he smiled. There would be no more sake today, because he would need to keep his head on straight while he dealt with the ruffians he liked to call his adopted nieces and nephews.

It had been Jushiro's idea to find families in the first district to take children they were able to save from some of the harsher districts. They had been doing it for so long that some of the children they had saved had grandchildren now, and their children had taken in children as well, as had some of those older grandchildren. There was a whole section of the first district swarming with families that the two men, among others, had taken under their wing. So when Jushiro stopped and led him into a storefront, he was surprised. “I thought we were going to see the family,” he asked.

“We are,” he said with a smile. “But you know how the young ones act when we come empty handed.”

“Ah,” he replied with a smile of his own. “So we're arming ourselves to the teeth, in a fashion.”

“Exactly.” He looked at his old friend. “You seem troubled. Do you want to talk about it?”

He paused, and then sighed. “I seem to be...lonely. My lovely Nanao-chan was happy to see me when we came back. Relieved and excited and many other things that made me think I might finally convince her that we were meant to be together.” He looked at the sweets and began picking some up. “And now she's back to her old self.”

Jushiro chuckled slightly. “Did you take the advice I gave you when I was recovering?”

“No,” he said quietly. “It's _work_.”

He caught sight of Shunsui's face and chuckled again, a little louder this time. “Precisely. She appreciates a hard worker. If you are a hard worker, she may come to express that she appreciates you, which is the first step.”

“How did you get Retsu's attention?” he asked, looking at some small fans.

“I didn't,” he said quietly. He knew he looked surprised when Jushiro gave him a small smile. “As much as I would love that, she simply does not feel the same way.”

“Oh,” he said, picking up three fans and moving on. “Perhaps you should.”

“Eh?” Jushiro asked, his head coming up sharply.

This time it was his turn to chuckle. “She'd be good for--” But whatever it was he had intended to say was cut short be a woman's screams. Both men dropped the things they had in their hands and rushed out into the street in time to see three hulking Hollows in the town square. “These things always happen when it's just the two of us,” he said, putting his hand on the hilts of his zanpakatous.

“Which is why we're generally told not to leave Seirieiti at the same time,” he replied with a slight smile. “We can handle this.”

“Yes, we can,” he replied with a grin back. He knew the type of grin he had on his own face. He did his best not to let his sweet Nanao-chan see him like this. He didn't _like_ to fight, but if he could help keep the streets Hollow free he would, no matter how bloodthirsty the look on his face was, _especially_ so close to those he considered family. As they charged into the fight, he took just a brief moment to observe his friend. Just a moment, nothing more, or else he would have been hurt. And what he saw comforted him. His friend was back to his health. He could handle it.

It only took about ten minutes to dispatch the Hollows they had started with and take the third down together. When they were done the people of that area came out, some cheering, some not. Hollows did not usually come this close to Seirieiti It was something that would have to be looked into. He turned to his friend, saw him sheath his zanpakatou, and give him a grin. No faltering, no passing out. It occurred to Shunsui he might actually be healthier than he had been before, if this little workout hadn't so much as winded him.

“We work well together, don't we?” he replied, going over to clap Jushiro on the shoulder. He faltered slightly and immediately Shunsui became concerned.

But before he could say anything Jushiro turned and straightened, looking at his friend. “When did you get stronger?” he asked, a slight twinkle in his eye. “There was more strength behind that friendly gesture than before.”

He relaxed. “Well, I have found that laying about all day isn't as much fun as it used to be. Now my dear Nanao-chan just ignores me completely. So I have been spending some time training with the Second Division recruits. They get a vigorous workout, but I am picking up new skills.” He chuckled slightly. “I believe I am even impressing their captain.”

“I didn't think anyone could impress Captain Sui Feng,” he said, nodding back to the store they had been in.

“Apparently, I can,” he said with some modesty, despite the statement. “But that is neither here nor there.”

“Perhaps you should offer to train your Nanao-chan in what you are learning,” Jushiro mused. “She might like that. It would give her another skill to supplement her sword and her impressive kidou knowledge.”

Shunsui rubbed at his jaw slightly, the stubble scratching the pads of his fingers as he gave it some thought. “I can ask.”

“And while you're at it, offer to do more of your work. Not all of it,” he said when Shunsui turned to face him, “but _some_ of it. If you want to impress her, that is how I would go about it.”

“I will consider this,” he said with a nod. And then he smiled a sly little grin. “Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Retsu?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he said with a nod. “And right now, I'm not sure I want to change things.”

Shunsui nodded. He could understand that, and he took that as the unspoken sign that it was, that he should end the conversation there. He looked around the store and retrieved the items he had dropped in haste, and added a few more. The shopkeeper insisted they take them at no cost, for saving his store from the Hollows, but Jushiro would not accept them for free. They haggled a bit and Jushiro paid for half of what that was worth. Shunsui did not even barter; he just handed the man what his items were worth.

“I bargained for you and me,” Jushiro said, shaking his head and concealing a smile.

“Eh, this way he can put more meat on his table. I know his children need food.”

“Are they almost at the age to enter the Academy?”

“His son is,” Kyoraku said with a nod. “I keep tabs on those in this neighborhood. Which reminds me...how many members of our adopted family are entering the Academy soon?”

“All of the children Aiko-chan took in last winter,” he said. “So...three boys and one girl. And Masi-chan as well. He is the one who looks like Ichigo.” A quick look flashed across his face, and Shunsui knew what it meant: he looked like Kaien, too. That was a wound the still had not healed with time.“He should have gone last year but his parents were ill and he chose to care for them.”

“And they are better now,” he said with a smile. “I know Retsu claimed him for her Division already, if he chooses to go into the Academy. He takes care of most of the sick and wounded here. If he didn't have such high spiritual pressure he would make an excellent doctor here in the Rukongai. But I suspect she keeps showing him healing kidou so she can grab him the minute he graduates.”

Jushiro laughed. “I wouldn't be surprised. She can be devious that way.”

“Yes, she can,” he replied with a nod. “Let us brace ourselves and head over to the children, eh?” Jushiro nodded and they headed to the part of the district where everyone knew them. A little boy saw them and turned to run down the street, yelling for all the rest of the children and letting them know that their uncles had arrived. It took mere moments before twenty-five children of various ages came out, swarming around the men as they passed out candy and presents. It didn't even take five minutes for them to become empty handed, save for a hair comb that Jushiro had for Aiko-chan. He went to go deliver it and inquire about the children who were to enter the Academy.

Shunsui wanted to be upset, because that left him with twenty-five children of various ages clamoring for a story from his time as an illustrious Captain of shinigami. He went to the large tree and sat down on a stool one of the older children brought, and waited for them to sit. There were certain stories he didn't tell. Obviously the ones that involved sake and debauchery on his part, but also stories of the Winter War. It was still too fresh in his mind. So he settled on stories from his time at the Academy. They all seemed to like them.

Jushiro joined them after about an hour, and he had some of his own stories to tell. When the children began to get restless they decided to play with them, engineering a game called hide and seek in the Western world. The children were delighted, and after about a half hour of playing it with them the two men broke away to talk to the parents, see if there was anything they needed, any problems they should know about. It was then that Shunsui found out Jushiro had been going every week, and Retsu had come by as well to help take care of some of the sick and injured. He had been so lost in his own issues he'd lost sight of other things.

As they wrapped up their visit and headed back to Seirieiti, they talked freely. The sun was starting to set when they bid each other farewell for the night, and Shunsui went to the office he shared with his wonderful Nanao-chan. He opened the door quietly and found her with her arms on her desk and her head resting on them, her soft and steady breathing indicating she was asleep. There was a stack of unfinished paperwork to her side and quietly he went over, picked the stack up, and carried it over to his own desk and began to work. It was the least he could do, and perhaps his old friend's advice would be what was needed for his situation after all.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The One I'm Most Proud Of](https://archiveofourown.org/works/537539) by [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake)




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